Diamond Resorts International (DRI) is a timeshare company headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada. They own a network of 379 vacation destinations.
On June 29, 2016, Apollo Global Management made a successful offer to purchase Diamond Resorts International.
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Acquisitions
In October 2015 DRI bought out Gold Key Resorts for $167.5 million. This acquisition added five vacation ownership resorts in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and one in the Outer Banks, North Carolina.
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Undercover Boss
The Founder, Stephen J. Cloobeck, was featured in the season premiere of Undercover Boss (U.S. TV series) Season 4 on January 15, 2012. He was the first Chairman and CEO to go undercover a second time on November 30, 2012.
Awards, honors and ratings
- Thurnham Hall, a UK resort - Diamond Resorts International® receives the British Safety Council 2011 Sword of Honour, the most prestigious international health and safety accolade attributed to a company, for Thurnham Hall and its achievement in delivering the highest standard of health and safety management to its owners, members, guests and team members.
Properties
United States
International
Criticism and controversy
Diamond Resorts International is notable for high-pressure sales tactics used to close sales and generate fees for consumers. Club members are charged yearly maintenance fees (including management fees), which are set by Diamond Resorts International and which the FTC warns are likely to rise every year. Diamond Resorts International's official 2014 SEC filing states that club members do not have the right to terminate membership, except in certain areas where consumers are protected by state law. Jeff Weir, a Diamond timeshare owner and journalist covering the timeshare industry, told the New York Times: "In my experience, Diamond is much more ambitious, aggressive and downright nasty in their sales presentations compared to Marriott and Westin. Diamond just has an amazing reputation of being tough on people."
David F. Palmer, Diamond's chief executive, sees its sales methods in a very different light. In an interview, Mr. Palmer described how Diamond tries to bring fun to its customer interactions, both before an initial sale and once a member buys in. "The industry didn't quite realize that you have to engage and create intimacy and pervasiveness with somebody that you don't really know," he said. "Our lifetime subscription model creates a series of systems where you can track that engagement and make sure you are constantly providing a series of experiences that exceed their expectations over many, many years."
Of the 54 customer reviews posted on the BBB.org website, 1 is positive, 1 is neutral and 52 are negative.
Diamond Resorts was compelled to settle with the State of Arizona for $800,000 in December 2016. The State has received hundreds of consumer complaints against Diamond Resorts. Consumers complained that Diamond used deceptive sales practices and made numerous oral misrepresentations and false statements during timeshare sales presentations. Some of the alleged misrepresentations are related to:
- Annual increases in maintenance fees;
- Membership resale and buy-back programs;
- Timeshare membership resale market;
- Ability to rent timeshare vacations; and
- Discounts on other travel needs.
The Arizona Attorney General's Office alleged that Diamond employees' actions and statements violated the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act.
Similar programs
- Bluegreen Corporation
- Disney Vacation Club
- Hilton Grand Vacations Company
- Marriott Vacation Club International
- Westgate Resorts
- WorldMark by Wyndham
- Wyndham Vacation Resorts Asia-Pacific
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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